Typically Ordinary
by frenchhopeful
Summary: It was just a typical, ordinary Wednesday for James Potter. But then a conversation in Charms changes his outlook. Will any day be ordinary after it? One shot.


**A/N: I own nothing.  
**

* * *

It was a typical day. A typical, ordinary day. A Wednesday, if you will. A Wednesday in the month of December. Wednesdays are notoriously ordinary. They are simply the middle of the week – neither long nor short, neither delightful nor dreadful. Yet as James Potter sat upon his bed taking notes in his dormitory that cold, blustery Wednesday night, he reflected that maybe those days dividing the week were not always so ordinary. After all, he realized, a sentence spoken can change an outlook spectacularly.

* * *

James woke with a start and glanced around. The others in the room had not yet begun to stir, save for Adam McKinnon. As usual, he was nearly dressed and was soon to be on his way to meet Marlene Price in the Common Room. McKinnon was not a morning person, but Marlene was, therefore Adam rose early as well

James blearily closed his eyes, deciding a few more minutes of vague thoughts drifting into sleep couldn't hurt. Wednesdays held no excitement for him, except for Quidditch practice. Considering it was after dinner, however, he had no real motivation to get out of bed and face the cold walk to the bathroom for a shower. It was the same routine day after day. Oh, how that would change after a late-night revelation in the darkness of a room lit by wand light.

Rubbing his eyes and squinting in the search for his glasses, James slowly sat up and softly groaned. The teenager wearily climbed out of bed and headed towards the bathroom, grabbing his uniform along the way. In the shower, he ran through his day to wake up. A Wednesday. A typical, ordinary Wednesday in December. Sixth year. That meant Potions in the morning, a break, Transfiguration, lunch, another break and then double Charms. Lovely. Though after Charms, there was dinner. And after dinner, the only other thing that made Wednesdays alright apart from McGonagall. Quidditch.

Just a typical Wednesday. Strolling down the steps to the Common Room, James glanced about. He paused after reaching the bottom, taking in the scene around him. A few underclassmen were reviewing textbooks in the armchairs by the fire, grateful to have a chance to sit in the coveted seats while the older kids were preparing for the day. Mary Macdonald, a fellow Gryffindor sixth-year, was tapping her foot impatiently as she waited by the portrait hole for who James assumed was her current boyfriend, a fifth-year named Dennis. As James debated whether or not to wait for his mates, who would undoubtedly take a while to make it downstairs, Lily Evans arrived in the Common Room from her dormitory. She strode across the room with her bag, on her way, it appeared, to breakfast. James decided that he was too hungry to wait for the other Marauders, and quickly followed her across the room (or at least, hunger was the excuse he gave himself). He called out to her, and she slowed down, waiting for him to catch up. They greeted Mary as they passed her on their way out of the Tower.

* * *

Now, Lily Evans. What a topic. James had never really noticed her until fourth year. His slight crush had developed into something far more substantial over the years, but he was hesitant to think about it too in-depth. After asking her out occasionally during fifth-year and the debacle at the lake, James decided to back off and give her some space. So far this year, they had gone from neutral acquaintances to tentative friends. James liked to think that Lily had had a sudden change of heart, but he realized it was probably due to some serious thinking over the summer about his behavior. He hadn't changed himself for her, oh no. Of course not. But her screaming by the lake had been a wake-up call. He was supposed to be growing up, and in the face of a world that was turning darker by the day, he needed to quit with the childishness of it all. The Marauders had each grown up that summer.

The two tempestuous teens still bickered, naturally. He was James and she was Lily and how could they not disagree about something or other? But these days, the arguments ended in laughter, not frustration. It gave James hope for their friendship, but he could not see how she would fancy him any time soon. He was content to be friends, but was always wanting, needing more. He wanted to know the little things about her, for he and all her friends knew the big things. But it seemed that it would take a very long while for that knowledge, if he ever gained it. And while he was patient in many things, Lily Evans seemed to make the trait disappear. And so, on that typical, ordinary Wednesday morning, James Potter joined Lily Evans on her quest for breakfast, trying ever so hard to be happy with friendship and keeping his advances repressed.

Just a typical, ordinary Wednesday, as Lily bid James good morning. It was not atypical at this point to see the pair of them walking to the morning meal together. As they wandered down the corridors of Hogwarts, they chatted about the homework that was due for each class. Lily, apparently, had had trouble with the Transfiguration essay, and James once again gave his offer of help outside the classroom. She usually only came to him if she was having difficulties with wandwork during the period, because James noticed she did not want to go to Professor McGonagall for help.

Lily denied his offer yet another time, citing her need to learn the material on her own as the reason. They continued to discuss the day ahead as they entered the Great Hall, which was in its early stages of buzzing from students. The pair stopped along the middle of the Gryffindor table and took seats across from each other. They started piling their plates with food as the owls swooped in from above. Conversation between them stopped as they both received and started to read the newspaper.

Just a typical, ordinary Wednesday breakfast. The rest of the day continued in much the same fashion – uneventful and dull. James subtly took every opportunity he could to talk to Lily, even if it was with the Marauders. The group was slowly becoming friends with the girl, even so much as she started to sit by them in many of their classes.

In Transfiguration, James sat at his desk next to Sirius, dutifully taking notes (for McGonagall was his favorite). He tried to hide his not-so-occasional glances at the back of Lily's head, wishing that today were a practical day, not a lecture on theory. As the woman droned on however, it appeared that his wish would not come true, and James resigned himself to the fact that it was a typical, ordinary day.

Finally, the bell rang to end class, and the students made their way to the Great Hall once again. James sat with the Marauders, and had a typical, ordinary, pleasant lunch. The thought of doing work after a meal was daunting, so he ended up taking a nap instead. It was a typical, ordinary Wednesday. Until the next lesson, of course.

* * *

"You will note," said Professor Flitwick, "that unlike many advanced charms, in which style is key, this charm is very precise. To master it, you must be exact in both your gestures and your wording."

James frowned as he attempted the spell. He was clearly frustrated – in Transfiguration, everything was precise. He ought to have been able to get this one right away. That typical, ordinary day, however, proved to provide a struggle for him. Next to James, Sirius was transfiguring a stone effortlessly after having doing the charm successfully twice already. Across the aisle, Peter was helping Remus with the difficult pronunciation as Remus performed the wand movements. James jumped as he heard a light voice next to him.

"Need a bit of help, there, James?" questioned Lily.

He turned to her.

"Potentially," replied James. "I'm not quite sure what's up with me today. I thought I had the motions down, but when it comes time to perform the spell, I botch it up."

Lily looked at him questioningly, then offered, "Maybe you just need to take a different approach. Try twisting your wrist slightly to the left before flicking it and saying the incantation."

"That's what I've been doing!" exclaimed James.

"Well maybe your foundations of wand swishing are wrong then," Lily teased. "You need to have a solid foundation on which you can rely in order to be successful."

James tried the spell again as she talked him through the motions. And lo and behold, it worked. He grinned as she gave him a high-five. Just a typical, ordinary Wednesday with a typical, ordinary conversation in Charms. And yet, as the day continued, typically and ordinarily of course, James found that he was not _quite _able to concentrate as well during dinner and Quidditch. For the life of him, he could not figure out why. Until later that night, that is.

It was a typical day. A typical, ordinary day. A Wednesday, if you will. A Wednesday in the month of December. Wednesdays are notoriously ordinary. They are simply the middle of the week – neither long nor short, neither delightful nor dreadful. Yet as James Potter sat upon his bed taking note late that night, his attention kept drifting to that day and the perfectly ordinary conversation in Charms.

All of a sudden, as his eyes skimmed over a passage on working backwards with Ancient Runes, the realization hit him. Today was no typical, ordinary Wednesday. It was a significant Wednesday, just as every day was significant in his quest for Lily Evans. She had said it herself; every relationship (okay, so she was talking about wand movements, but same difference, right?) had to be built on solid foundations. Maybe the two of them didn't have a solid enough base yet. But they were getting there. Every day of their friendship, every conversation, every interaction, was building a base and foundation for them. It was solidifying anything they might have in the future. They needed to have that _thing_ there in order to make any sort of relationship work. Sure, she didn't fancy him yet, but even if she did, they wouldn't be ready to be successful. As James put his textbook on the end table next to his bed, he lay down pondering his friendship with one Lily Evans. He realized that everything was working towards his desired end.

He just needed to be patient.

And realize that today, like every other day, was no typical, ordinary day in the bond that would most surely grow (and form the foundation of a relationship) with each passing moment between James Potter and Lily Evans.

It was a typical, ordinary Wednesday in December. Or was it?


End file.
